Burn institute honoring police officer

Police Sgt. Kenny Heinz made a split-second decision in September that saved a young mother's life.

Next month, the San Diego Burn Institute will honor him for it with a 2009 Spirit of Courage Award.

After a car chase and fiery explosion Sept. 6, Heinz ran to a burning Jeep instead of following the suspect over a chain-link fence.

“I got out, took three steps toward the fence, then something made me turn back to check the Jeep,” Heinz said.

He found an unconscious woman seated on the roof of the flipped vehicle.

“The entire (chassis) of the Jeep was on fire and flames were 3 to 4 feet high,” Heinz said. “I said to myself: 'This is going to hurt.' ”

After two tries, he managed to pull her out, and two men nearby helped carry her to safety. Nobody was burned.

The woman, identified only as “Denise,” has recovered from a shoulder injury and is doing fine, Heinz said.

Heinz, 41, recently received another honor for the same rescue: a heroism award from the American Legion.

Retracing the rescue

Heinz was among a half-dozen patrol officers who responded to a bar at Main Street and Broadway about 1:30 a.m. Sept. 6. A man reportedly had a handgun.

After questioning people near the club, no gun or suspect was found and Heinz prepared to leave.

A driver of a white pickup suddenly gunned his engine and drove over a concrete parking barrier, onto a sidewalk and into the street.

Heinz followed, and when he turned on his lights and sirens, the motorist sped off on Anita Street. The officer caught up at Fourth Avenue and the next thing he saw was an explosion.

The truck had hit a Jeep from the rear, sending it airborne. It landed upside down on a parked sedan and ignited. Then the truck careened across a sidewalk, through a fence and hit a mobile home.

Unable to see through sparks, smoke and shooting flames, Heinz thought the driver had hit a parked car, not a moving one.

“That decision to go back and check the Jeep was absolutely pivotal,” he said.

He said he walked up to the vehicle and yelled: “Come on ma'am, we've got to get you out. Your car's on fire!”

Heinz said as soon as the woman was rescued, “the roof of the Jeep collapsed and flames engulfed the vehicle.”

Police surrounded the mobile home park and nearby streets and caught the driver of the truck about two blocks away. He was treated at a hospital then booked into jail on suspicion of evading police, reckless driving and hit-and-run driving.

Looking back, Heinz says the rescue didn't hurt after all.

“I'm not just lucky, I'm blessed,” he said. “I'm guarded by somebody else who watches out for me. I'm just along for the ride.”